Ben Johnson's attention to detail becoming an attention-getter

There aren't many people still around who have consistently bet on the new Bears coach being different from the guy before him, because most of them went broke doing that. But Ben Johnson's first impression is enough to make even the hardened skeptic give it one more try.

As I noted in this post on the Bears offseason Bingo card filling up quickly, Johnson's honeymoon period has elicited many of the new-coach cliches that fuel optimism heading into the season — only to eventually be rendered as counterfeit or unsustainable as high hopes get dashed by Halas Hall reality.

The Bears' mandatory mini-camp this week has highlighted one that wasn't even included in the Bingo card — the good old "attention to detail" that sounds so right as a desperately needed Bears elixir in June and August and even September and October before dissipating as "consistency" and "execution" become culprits for another Bears losing streak.

(In 2013 under first-year head coach Marc Trestman, the Bears' offense was so focused on the details at the beginning of the season that the Bears had one false start on offense in the first nine games. But they had seven in the final seven games as the Bears' faltered late to finish 8-8 and miss the playoffs, then had 28 false-start penalties in 2014, before Trestman was fired.)

Bears coach Ben Johnson said "it was good to see" the offense complete a 94-yard drive in the two-minute drill Wednesday, because "the defense has gotten the better of the offense more often than not in all those two-minute [drills]."

Every coach ever thinks he's an attention-to-detail guy. "I am detail-oriented," Matt Eberflus said at his introductory press conference in 2022, "meaning I do hold guys to the standard and I do it the right way because I do it with my heart and making sure I'm trying to find the best way to make them better."

Less than three years later, Eberflus was fired, in part because — as general manager Ryan Poles put it — accountability was lacking and players weren't being held to those high standards that Eberflus said were a core part of his philosophy.

Same thing with Matt Nagy in 2018. "Details — that's what it comes down to," he said when asked about things he learned from Andy Reid. "You're always learning more about a play or a concept. We still write in our books. I still to this day write every play down, every detail of each play."

It's been more of the same with Ben Johnson. Tight end Cole Kmet, who played for Nagy and Eberflus, noted Johnson's detail-oriented approach when asked about yet another coaching transition.

"What sticks out to Ben and this staff and just in general is just how detail-oriented they are," Kmet said. "You can feel that in the meetings, and they're relentless on the details. I think that's something that may be a little unique from what I've had in the past.

"Not saying the other coaches weren't detailed, but it's like an obsession with the details and you can feel that from him. He just can't let it go. You feel that from him, whether it's on the field, in the meeting room — he brings that with him wherever he's at."

Attention to detail has become such a cliche that it often is dismissed as coach-speak. It's like saying a player "hates to lose" — who doesn't. But let the record show that every so often that fixation on detail pays off, like when the coach is really, really good at everything else. Former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio — the most successful coordinator the Bears have had since the Lovie Smith era if not before — was a noted stickler for details (though we didn't find out he called it "death by inches" until he got the head coaching job with the Broncos in 2019).

But attention to detail obviously works if you have a special way of getting through to players — and also are good at other parts of your job, like play-calling and formulating a game plan. Much of what Ben Johnson is saying and doing right now — where his confidence and articulation (and his resume) make everything sound so good and so right — is standard fare for a new coach with the advantage of not being the guy before him. But Johnson also shows signs of actually being the real deal.

There was such an instance of that Wednesday at Halas Hall, when Johnson was asked about attention to detail and how he became so obsessed with it.

"I don't know," he said. "I've probably seen more bad football than I've seen good football over my time in this league. It's just trying not to make the same mistakes as the people I've been around maybe in the past, that I've perceived as mistakes. I don't think you can let things slide. I think offensive football is about precision. It's a constant communication of what that should look like. When they hit the mark we love 'em up. When we fall short, we gotta lt 'em know, so we get better next time."

You gotta love a coach who acknowledges, even tacitly, that some coaches — even coaches he's worked with — aren't very good. And that he's eager to learn from their mistakes. Ben Johnson already has a "smartest guy in the room" air about him. But every so often, the coach who thinks he's the smartest guy in the room actually is the smartest guy in the room.